1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a recording medium driving apparatus capable of recording on and/or reproducing information from two types of media, namely, a disk-shaped type of medium represented by a compact disk (CD) and a type of medium represented by a mini-disk (MD) having a disk housed in a cartridge, while using a common optical pickup.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, the number of types of on-vehicle electronic equipment, in particular, has been increasing. There has been a need for installing, in a vehicle, many types of electronic equipment such as a navigation system and a liquid crystal display in addition to, for example, a CD player and an MD player. In an attempt to meet such a need, if a CD player and an MD player are stacked as commonly done, then a large portion of the effective space of an installation place is occupied by these two types of players, presenting the problem of having limited space remaining for other electronic equipment to be installed.
To solve the aforesaid problem, a recording medium driving apparatus has recently been proposed that is adapted to integrate the mechanisms of a CD player and an MD player so as to permit information to be reproduced from both media, namely, the CD and the MD, by employing a common optical pickup. The recording medium driving apparatus is provided with an insertion slot for inserting and ejecting a CD and an MD in a frame member of its main body, and is further provided in its main body with a turntable capable of rotatively driving a CD and an MD, an optical pickup, and a driving unit on which a transporting mechanism for moving the optical pickup is mounted.
In the recording medium driving apparatus having the configuration generally described above, when a CD or an MD is inserted through the insertion slot, the inserted medium is rotatively driven by the turntable, and the optical pickup is moved along the turning medium thereby to reproduce information that has been recorded on the medium.
The recording medium driving apparatus set forth above allows information to be reproduced from both types of media, CDs and MDs, by using the same optical pickup mounted on the driving unit. This arrangement makes it possible to considerably reduce the thickness or height of the entire apparatus in comparison with a case where a CD player and an MD player are separate mechanisms that are stacked, thus permitting an allowance in space for installing other electronic equipment. However, only one medium, either a CD or an MD, can be loaded on the turntable of the driving unit; therefore, it is impossible to simultaneously insert or place both a CD and an MD in the frame member of the equipment main body. This has posed an inconvenience in that, for example, if information in an MD needs to be reproduced to replace information in a CD that is being reproduced, then the inserted CD must be ejected before the MD can be inserted.
Accordingly, the present invention has been made with a view toward solving the problem described above, and it is an object thereof to provide a recording medium driving apparatus capable of simultaneously accommodating two different types of media and of recording and/or reproducing information to and/or from either of the media that has been selected.
To this end, according to the present invention, there is provided a recording medium driving apparatus having a first medium formed as a disk and a second medium formed of a disk housed in a cartridge case, the first and second media being retained in a frame member at two vertically shifted positions, and information being recorded and/or reproduced on and/or from the first and second media by using a common optical pickup. The recording medium driving apparatus is equipped with a driving unit which can be vertically and horizontally moved with respect to the frame member and on which at least the optical pickup and a transporting mechanism for moving the optical pickup are mounted, wherein the driving unit vertically and horizontally moves in the frame member so as to selectively oppose the optical pickup to either of the first and second media retained at the two different positions.
The first type of media is a disk-shaped recording medium such as, for example, CDs and digital versatile disks (DVDs), and the second type of media is a recording medium such as, for example, MDs formed of disks housed in cartridge cases.
With this arrangement, moving the driving unit vertically and horizontally in the frame member makes it possible to selectively oppose a single optical pickup to either of the two media retained in two different positions shifted in the vertical direction in the frame member. Hence, both media can be simultaneously accommodated in the apparatus, and either one of the media can be selected to record and/or reproduce information, obviating the necessity of changing a medium every time, with consequent excellent convenience.
In the arrangement set forth above, it is preferable that a main chassis held in the frame member is provided with a first mount section in which the first medium is mounted and a second mount section in which the second medium. is mounted, and the driving unit is provided so that it can be moved in a first direction for moving toward or away from the main chassis. When the driving unit is in a position away from the main chassis, the driving unit can be moved in a second direction intersecting with the first direction between a first position, where the optical pickup opposes the first medium loaded in the first mount section, and a second position where the optical pickup opposes the second medium loaded in the second mount section.
With this arrangement, the driving unit can be moved in the first direction to move it away from the main chassis and at the same time or after moving it away therefrom, the driving unit can be moved in the second direction from the first position to the second position or from the second position to the first position so as to bring the driving unit close to the main chassis in the first direction, thereby enabling the single optical pickup to be selectively moved to either of the two media loaded in predetermined positions in the main chassis.
Alternatively, it is preferable in the aforesaid arrangement that a holder for retaining the second medium inserted in the frame member is provided so that it may vertically move in the frame member, the driving unit and the holder are respectively moved vertically at positions where the driving unit and the holder do not flatly overlap so as to allow the vertical relative positions of the driving unit and the holder to be reversed, and horizontal movement of the driving unit causes the driving unit to flatly overlap at least a part of the holder at one side or the other side of the holder in the vertical direction. Further preferably, information is recorded and/or reproduced to and/or from the first medium at the first position where the driving unit overlaps the holder at one side of the holder, while information is recorded and/or reproduced to and/or from the second medium at the second position where the driving unit overlaps the holder at the other side of the holder.
With this arrangement, when the driving unit is moved from one side to the other side or from the other side to the one side of the holder in the vertical direction, the holder is simultaneously moved in the vertical direction. Thus, a vertical moving area required for moving the driving unit between the first position and the second position is reduced, permitting the thickness or height of the entire apparatus to be reduced.
In the arrangement, it is further preferable that a carrying member for inserting or ejecting the first medium in or from the frame member be provided, the carrying member being able to move vertically at the position where it flatly overlaps the holder, the holder and the carrying member be respectively moved away from the first medium in the vertical direction when recording and/or reproducing information to and/or from the first medium, the driving unit be moved horizontally to one side of the holder whereby the optical pickup opposes the first medium, the holder and the carrying member be respectively moved toward the first medium in the vertical direction when recording and/or reproducing information to and/or from the second medium, and the driving unit be moved horizontally to the other side of the holder whereby the optical pickup opposes the second medium.
With this arrangement, the holder and the carrying member are both raised to bring them close to the first medium to perform recording/reproduction to/from the second medium, thus enabling the holder to be raised to a position where it is nearer the first medium without causing it to come in contact with the carrying member. This permits the thickness or height of the entire apparatus to be further reduced.
Further preferably, the foregoing arrangement is provided with insertion slots which are formed in the frame member and through which the first medium and the second medium are inserted and ejected, detecting means for detecting a medium inserted through the insertion slot, a carrying mechanism for carrying a medium into the frame member on the basis of a detection output of the detecting means, a main chassis that movably supports the driving unit between a position where recording and/or reproduction to and/or from the first medium is performed and a position where recording and/or reproduction to and/or from the second medium is performed, an elastic member that elastically and movably supports the main chassis in the frame member, and a locking mechanism for locking or unlocking the main chassis to or from the frame member; wherein the main chassis is unlocked by the locking mechanism when recording and/or reproduction to and/or from one of the first and second medium is performed, and the main chassis is locked by the locking mechanism and the other medium is carried into the frame member by the carrying mechanism when the detecting means detects that the other medium has been inserted through the insertion slot under the foregoing unlocked condition.
With this arrangement, while one of the media is undergoing recording/reproduction, the other medium can be directly inserted through the insertion slot; therefore, both media can be simultaneously accommodated without the necessity of removing one of the media, and recording and/or reproduction to and/or from either of the two media can be accomplished using the same optical pickup. This arrangement also obviates the need for preparatory operations such as, for example, interrupting the drive of a medium under recording/reproduction prior to insertion of the other medium, resulting in excellent convenience.